This canned tuna pasta with garlic and lemon is a best of all worlds recipe — quick, budget-friendly and absolutely delicious. If you find yourself short on time and unsure what to make for dinner, you likely already have everything you need in your pantry to put this recipe together.
Canned tuna pasta tastes fresh and uplifting. It is packed with protein and actually looks elegant and fancy — you’d never know that it’s made with basic pantry ingredients! Feel free to get creative with this recipe as well. You can swap in fresh parsley instead of chives or even add in chopped sundried tomatoes, olives, capers or red pepper flakes for additional flavour.
ingredients
directions
*Sub gluten-free spaghetti, if needed
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
Once boiling, add the pasta and cook according to the package instructions for al dente texture.
Meanwhile, heat the extra virgin olive oil in a skillet and once hot, add the garlic and saute for around 1 minute or until fragrant and tender.
Add the chives to the garlic and saute for another 30 seconds. Then add the tuna, along with the olive oil from the can, into the skillet and saute for 1 minute, or until the tuna is warmed through. You want to maintain some chunks of tuna, so don’t over stir, stir just gently enough to heat.
Once the pasta is cooked, reserve ½ cup of the pasta water and then drain the pasta.
Pour the drained pasta into the skillet with the tuna and around half of the reserved pasta water. Give everything a stir to combine, cooking over medium heat for 1 to 2 minutes. You can add more or all of the remaining pasta water if you find the pasta looks a little dry.
Lastly, stir in the lemon zest and lemon juice just before serving.
Divide between two bowls and top with the remaining 2 tablespoons chopped chives, parmesan and black pepper to serve.
